Harris put Trump on the defensive with a stream of attacks on his fitness for office, his support of abortion restrictions and his myriad legal woes, prompting a visibly angry Trump to deliver a series of falsehood-filled retorts.

After the debate, pricing for a Trump victory slipped by six cents to 47 cents on online betting site PredictIt, while Harris’s odds climbed to 57 cents from 53 cents.

Harris’s candidacy also received a boost after pop megastar Taylor Swift said she would vote for the Democratic candidate to her 280 million followers in a post on Instagram.

“The US presidential debate achieved its goal by providing a decisive edge to one of the candidates in what has been an exceptionally close race,” said Charu Chanana, global market strategist at Saxo.

“The debate (was) .. further energised by Taylor Swift’s endorsement, which could boost support from women and younger voters.

Trump is the biggest shareholder in Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), the parent of Truth Social app, which is popular among retail traders and is often sensitive to the former president’s chances of winning the 2024 US election.

Trump Media’s valuation is equivalent to more than 900 times the money-losing company’s revenue in 2023 of US$4.1 million, far exceeding the worth of much larger companies with more revenue.

For instance, Meta Platforms, which earned US$131.9 billion from goods and services in 2023, has a price-to-revenue valuation of 9.6, according to LSEG data.

Since its listing through a reverse merger with a blank check firm in March, TMTG’s market value jumped as much as US$9.2 billion in late May before dropping to US$3.7 billion up to Tuesday’s close.

About 320,000 shares Trump Media shares changed hands in early premarket trading, making it one of the most actively traded Nasdaq stocks.